The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-05-11
The Habit in New York Among Persons Of
Supposed Responsibility.
Young Physicians Who Run Out Of Subjscts
Experiment on Themselves.
Destiiution and Degradation Follow the IN
temperate Use Of the Drug.
Pleasant Reception Given General Luigi Di
CesnOla at the Metropolitan Museum
Northumberland Not Drawing.

NEW York, May "A scandalous di-
vorce case between DIR. Frank Deems, son
of Rev. DR.. Deems, of this CITY, and his
wife, Grace Brotherton, that was, reveals
the fact that both husband and wife were
Opium-eaters, and suggests the inquiry as
to the extent of this habit in New York
among Americans of supposed respectable
ity. DR.. Charles f. Deems is the editor of
one of Mrs. Frank Leslie's numerous pub
icatlons-the Sunday Magazine, 1 think it
is called. Years ago old Cornelius Wander
bit, to please his new wife, Miss Frank
Crawford, set the reverend doctor up in
what he called the Church of the Strang-
ers, and believe he still conducts that
soul-saving institution, for the benefit,
chiefly, of the sinfnI from the South who
stray into New York. Miss Crawford came
from Mobile, Ala, as did the doctor, and
they had always been good friends. think
he married the lady to the dying million
aire. He lived in the shadow of the Wash
iDgton Square Vanderbilt mansion as long
as the old Commodore survived, but I'M
derstand he was not as popular with Will
lam ii. Vanderbilt or his sons as he had
been with Commodore Vanderbilt. What
strange creatures that strange old man did
have around him in. his latter days. I'm.
agine relying in almost his last illness on
the hand manipulatlons and the massage
treatment of Victoria Woodruff and Ten
ME q. Clathn during week days for the res
toration of his health, and on DIR. Deems
prayers and exhortations on Sunday for
the preservation of his soul! The COmmo-
dore was q cynical old gentleman and fan
cy be held the two cures to be about equally
efficacious. There are no reflections on
DIR. Deems, in the divorce proceedings. ex-
cept that the wife alleges that he, knowing
his son to be afflicted with the opium
habit, permitted her, an innocent young
girl, to marry him and become "his unpaid
nurse" The son does not deny his addic-
ton to the opium habit, but he retorts
upon bis wife by calling her another"
nor has his wife thus far denied the ALE
CATION. The effect of opium on those
bound by marriage ties seems to have been
distressingly inharmonious. There are
any quantity of assertions of actual vio-
lence, and of threats to KILL and mutual
abandonment seems to have been an early
result of the indulgence in the habit.
/ mentioned, in former letter, the case
OF Francis Gerry Fairfield and his wife,
who were addicted to this habit, though in
their case the drug seems to have brought
about harmony. / know of a case very
similar to that of DR.. Deems aud his wife,
the victims in this case also being young
doctor and his wife, young literary
woman. Desertion, restitution and degra-
dation followed their indulgence. Ny OBJ
servation and information incline me to
think that this and the cocoaine habit have
peculiar destinations for young physicians
and for brain-workers of both sexes-the
weaker brains of both sexes, l mean, Just
why these drugs should thus allure the
brain-workers l don't know, but they GER
tainly do. 1t may possibly be accounted
for, as regards physicians, by the tendency
of young doctors to experiment on patients
with new drugs, like cocoaine, or danger
Gus ones, like opium; and as most of the
horde OF young practitioners in this over
crowded city occasionally run out
of subjects, they experiment on them
selves. The opium 'joints" in this city are
mainly kept by Americans for Americans,
and not by the Chinese for Cinnamon A
Chinaman can no more get into one OF the
luxurious Joints frequented by Ameri-
cans than he can get room in the Hoff
man House or even less exclusive hotels
and they never attempt to do so. Ameri-
cans, on the contrary, are often caught in
the lower dens of the Chinese-possib bly,
because they think they can get better
opium and better service there than in the
American "joints." No policeman knows,
or admits he knows, the number of these
'joints' in the city, but there are q good
many more than the records show or the
police will acknowledge.
The papers had story the other morn
ing about an organized conspiracy of
Cuban banditti to seize Senator Sherman.
There is an organized band of the same
sort here, composed of local politicians,
who who are lying in wait for Senator
Sherman for his quadrennial appearance as
a White House tourist, and if he escapes
with anything left in his barrel in 1888, he
will be able 10 record much closer shave
than that which it is alleged he had in
Cuba
The private reception at the Metropoli-
tan Museum of Art on Tuesday, and the
first public one on Wednesday, were per
feet ovations to General Luigi Di Cesnola.
him. He has la0ored for the museum for
many years, through every imaginable
trial and tribulation and against
every conceivable obstacle which cal
umny could invent, amid the most in
genious detraction which malignancy could
suggest; and yet he has so commanded the
confidence of tie directors of the museum
and of the public that he is suddenly in
trusted with the charge of millions in value
OF the finest paintings, and the most brill
liant people of the metropolis gather to do
him honor and admire his disposition of
the works given to him The Metropolitan
Museum has. under his direction, suddenly
become one of the very richest art CALLER
les OF the world. A year ago it was pow
erty. stricken; to-day 1t is immensely
wealthy; and the sudden result is largely
owing to the seed General Di Cesnola has
been sewing for years. He has been an OBJ
ject OF ridicule to one class of art dealers
and critics; an object of defamation to an
other class of individuals and newspapers
has had to go through the humiliation OF a
long libel suit to establish the falsity of
charges brought against his integrity and
the genuiReness of the famous Cypress col
lection of antiquities, which was the first
notable acquisition of the museum he di-
reefs; and these sudden additions of the
most famous pictures IN the private collec-
lions of several of the richest of our citi-
zens can not but be regarded as in the high
est degree complimentary to him as mana
ger of the museum. / have long known
General Di Cesnola as one of the most earn
est of students of art and archaeology, and
] feel personal interest in his long de-
ferred, but well deserved, triumph.
Somebody has just brought out the fact
that the new business directory Of this city
shows that there are several hundred more
lawyers than liquor dealers in New York.
j knew it was pretty wicked city, but 1
had no idea ii was as bad as that. There Is